HOLLISTER
Before a vote tonight to cancel the sanctioned version of Hollister’s annual biker rally, City Manager Clint Quilter told council members that cutting back on law enforcement costs could potentially result in police officers being manned around the downtown perimeter until the event’s completion when they would “deal with it after the fact.”
Council members unanimously voted tonight against sanctioning a 2009 Hollister Motorcycle Rally unless another party can front the law enforcement costs, which reached about $360,000 in 2008. Some council members noted before their votes how they would not support any cutting back of police personnel to cut costs.
Quilter in his presentation contended that the level of rally security must remain where it stands.
“If you don’t have an adequate amount of law enforcement, then you have to decide it’s just not safe enough for law enforcement – and deal with it after the fact,” Quilter told council members.
He later clarified his comments to the Free Lance about manning the perimeter and said his point at the meeting’s outset was that “you can’t put your people at risk down there without adequate numbers.” A perimeter would be necessary if “unsafe” conditions arose for officers, he said.
“And you would deal with the aftermath,” Quilter said.
Quilter said that too few officers would heighten the danger level for security personnel and he noted how “the idea is not to have a fair fight.”
“What my point was, if you cut law enforcement too much, then it’s unsafe for your law enforcement officers,” he said. “It wasn’t meant as a threat.”
Councilwoman Monica Johnson after the meeting agreed with Quilter’s point on policing from a distance if necessary.
“If something happens downtown, if you can’t control it from the beginning, they’re going to be leaving the scene,” Johnson told the Free Lance regarding rally officers. “They’re going to be coming back in after.”
